William Buffum

Bill Buffum, aged 71, passed away on the 8th September 2025, from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in Providence, Rhode Island. He was born on 29th October 1953, in Providence to William Potter Buffum Jr. and Jean Fitz Buffum.

Bill attended high school at Providence Country Day School and continued his academic career at Brown University where in 1977 gained a BA in Biological Science. He took a couple of years off from Brown to work for the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains. His work there transformed his life. He spoke with AMC members who had climbed in the Himalayas. After graduation from Brown, he worked for the Peace Corps in Nepal. There he met his first wife, Wendy Frances King, and was married in 1981. They divorced in 1998.

Bill gained a Master's degree (MA) in International Affairs from Ohio University and then worked in social forestry and conservation for various American and international non-profit agencies in 15 developing countries. He did long term assignments in Nepal, Haiti, Thailand, Indonesia and Bhutan and shorter assignments in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Eritrea and Kosovo as well as participating in international workshops in Costa Rica and Kenya. He became a fluent speaker of Nepali, Haitian Creole, Indonesian (Bahasa) language and was also proficient in French after spending a semester in Paris.

He met Tracey Anne Coulson, from Scotland, while designing a biodiversity project in the Philippines. They were married in Dumfries, Scotland in 2000. Bill continued his work in developing countries focusing on reforestation projects to reduce severe soil erosion due to the cutting of trees by the local communities for heat and cooking.

Shortly after their daughter, Iona Grace, was born in Scotland in 2002, the family returned to Bhutan where Bill was working to strengthen the country's forestry program. They then spent a couple of years in Scotland, where Bill gained a PhD in Agricultural Science (Forestry), from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria. In 2007 the family moved to Kingston, Rhode Island.

After entering the world of academia, Bill taught and mentored undergraduate and postgraduate college students and published dozens of scientific papers in his field. He worked as a Research Associate from 2009-2021 at the University of Rhode Island and was awarded the CELS Outreach and Extension Award in 2017.

Following retirement from URI Bill continued working as a freelance consultant on various funded Forest Ecology projects up until a few months before his death. Earlier in his life he was a seasoned Himalayan climber/mountaineer and he continued to enjoy trekking in Nepal and hiking in Scotland and Utah right to the end.

He sought adventure not only in his travels but also in body surfing, ice boating, parachuting, scuba-diving and paragliding. He also loved calmer activities such as playing his own wonderful melodies on guitar, tai chi, yoga and meditation.

Bill had a serious commitment to making the world a better place, and that never stopped his soft smile from signaling a deep curiosity, good humor and gentle soul. Bill wasn't one to pretend to be what he was not. He loved nature and was very natural himself. In his unconditional loving way Bill would encourage you to "be as you are". This message will be on his memorial plaque on a huge boulder that he uncovered in Potter Wood, Kingston as he was making a Forestry Management Plan, during many years of volunteer work there.

He treasured so many beings in this world and he will go on being treasured by so many, long after his passing. Bill is survived by his wife Tracey Anne Buffum of Kingston Rhode Island and his daughter, Iona Grace Buffum; his sister Phoebe Buffum Cook; his two brothers, Paul Buffum and Harry Buffum. His sister, Jenny Buffum Chamberlin, predeceased him.

There will be a celebration of his life by invitation only. If so inclined, please consider a donation in his memory to the South Kingstown Land Trust or Compassionate Care ALS